Dhaka: Less than a week after an Italian aid worker was shot dead near the diplomatic zone of the capital, Dhaka, a Japanese man was shot dead by miscreants at Mahiganj in Rangpur, 335km north-west of Dhaka.

The Japanese national Hoshi Kunio, aged 66, worked in an agriculture project in Rangpur. 

Rangpur additional superintendent of police Zaynal Abedin said, ‘The victim came to Rangpur with one year visa. He has been working in an agriculture project in Mahiganj, Rangpur for four years.’

‘He was travelling to the town on a cycle rickshaw when his vehicle was stopped by three men riding on a motorcycle,’ said deputy police chief of Rangpur, Saifur Rahman.

‘They shot him there and drove away. His body has been brought to the morgue of Rangpur Medical College,’ Rahman said, adding that the man was shot at close range. 

The police official also said they were not aware of his presence in Rangpur before and identified him by checking his passport. 

The government sought to allay concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in the country after the second killing in a week, saying it was taking both murders 'very seriously'.

'Whoever is involved with the killings will be identified and brought to book,' Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters.

Kunio was a frequent visitor to Bangladesh and worked on a farming project in Rangpur, about 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of the capital Dhaka, police said. 

Kunio's landlord Jakaria Bala told Bengali daily Prothom Alo that the victim had leased a piece of land in a village near the Kaunia town to grow grass for cattle. 

5 held over the murder

Police, meanwhile, detained five people from the area suspecting their involvement in the killing. 

'We have detained three persons and are trying to know the motive for the killing,' Farukh Hossain, an additional superintendent of police of Rangpur district, told Reuters.

Japan Embassy in Dhaka says

A Japanese embassy spokesman in Dhaka told AFP that they were seeking more information regarding the deceased.

'According to the information we got from the law enforcement agencies, it appears to indicate that he was a Japanese who is in his 60s,' Takeshi Matsunaga told AFP. 

His body was taken to Rangpur Medical College morgue. Police have not yet identified any motive for the murder. 

What doctor says

Rangpur Medical College and Hospital Emergency Department duty doctor said the national was shot dead and his chest, hand and rib were bullet-wounded.

Miscreants cut tendon of his right hand to confirm his death and hacked his body. 

The attack came less than a week after an Italian aid worker was shot dead near the capital's diplomatic zone. 

The government has sought to calm escalating security fears in the country after the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, describing it as an 'isolated incident'. 

Earlier on 28 September, Cesare Tavella, 50, Project Manager for PROOFS (Profitable Opportunities for Food Security) of the Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation ‘ICCO Cooperation’, was shot dead by some miscreants in Dhaka’s Gulshan.  

Security Scare

The death of the Italian aid worker in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter — shot three times on Monday night by attackers who fled on a motorcycle in a murder claimed by Islamic State group — has escalated safety fears.

International schools in Bangladesh were closed on Tuesday while Western embassies restricted their diplomats' movements.

The British Foreign Office warned against attending gatherings of westerners in Bangladesh due to ‘reliable information’ militants may be planning to target Westerners.

The US embassy in Dhaka said its diplomats would be barred from attending international hotels and advised citizens to follow suit. Later the US embassy in Dhaka on Thursday apparently softened the security advisories for its citizens in Bangladesh.

Australia called off a two-Test tour of Bangladesh on Thursday, citing terrorism fears after official warnings militants may attack Western interests.  

The security scare also spilled over to soccer Thursday with Australia's football chiefs announcing their own concerns about playing in the South Asian nation.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) officially notified FIFA of their security fears.

Bangladesh prides itself on being a mainly moderate Muslim country. But the gruesome killings of a series of atheist bloggers this year have rocked the nation and sparked a crackdown on local hardline Islamist groups.